I have abused credit and I have used it wisely.

If you want to buy a car and have the cash for it, you can get a personal loan (i.e., not dealer financing or a secured loan) for all or part of the total amount, then just put the money you would've paid initially into a credit union savings account with automatic payments towards the loan.

You never have an additional bill, and although you pay a bit more for interest, by the time you're done, you've done wonders for your credit rating without even trying. When it comes time to buy a house (which, believe me, you will eventually want to do), you end up saving $50,000 on interest because you paid and extra $1,000 five years ago.